Russia bans media outlet that published Vladimir Putin scoops

Proekt outlawed in act of revenge for embarrassing revelations about the president and top Kremlin officials

The Kremlin's war on independent journalism in Russia has escalated after the Proekt investigative media outlet was outlawed in an act of revenge for a series of deeply embarrassing revelations about Vladimir Putin and top Kremlin officials.

The rare decision to ban a critical media outlet by fiat is a bellwether for Russia's new wave of investigative news outlets, which compete to publish damaging scoops about top officials and are now bracing for the Kremlin to employ similar pressure on them to shut down.